DATE & TIME: Thursday, October 1, 2020 | 1PM - 2PM EST

DURATION: 45-60 minutes

PRICE: FREE for members | $19.00 for non-members

THEMES: Information Management

CREDITS: 1 CEU (ARMA International) | This webinar is not eligible for LGARA Study Hours
(NOTE: ICRM no longer provides pre-approval for events less than one hour in length; however, you may still petition ICRM to receive credit for attending this webinar, which is usually approved in most instances)

 OVERVIEW: Using examples and strategies for archival/records management work within government agencies, this webinar will suggest that we ditch the illusion that we can maintain a regular daily balance—but will offer tips for engineering an overall work/life balance for the long haul.

Content areas:

• Achieving this balance starts with my inner self-talk as to who I am. Inwardly and ultimately, we are not records managers or archivists.
• This topic specifically impacts information professionals and the types of work we do. We daily experience the tension between serving and responding to people, managing things (we work in task-heavy data), and developing ideas for how to do so effectively.
• It isn’t always a success story. True confessions as an archivist/records manager who often fails to achieve that balance—including during the recent shutdowns and quarantines. Sometimes work takes over and relationships take a bit of a bruising.
• Specific nodules in the RM/Archives workplace where potential stressors lurk:
  1. The inherent ephemera fragility, fluidity and “baffleability” of electronic records
  2. Open records requests
  3. The lack of popular, general support or recognition for our work
• Life has its seasons. Although achieving daily balance may be impossible, it is significantly achievable over time.
• The role of goals. Having engaging projects to tackle is what gets us out of bed in the morning. Having realistic expectations helps, too, as does optimally arranging our priorities.
• We’re not alone. Countless successful individuals have not had balanced lives–but they had strategies that worked for them.
• The metaphor of geography is useful in thinking about the seasons of our work.  
• Work and life intersections:
  1. Brain function
  2. Eating and drinking
  3. Exercising
  4. False guilt and harmful expectations
• This year’s “new normal” of working remotely from home: opportunities and challenges.
• Your personal non-negotiables--and strategies for gaining supervisorial approval of them.
• Self-evaluation.
• Making the change.
  

SPEAKER:

Todd Ellison Records Manager City of Durango,Colorado